BRIAN RAY
Talks About McCartney and... Bonnie & Clyde? BY R A N DY PAT T E R S O N , B O O M E R O C I T Y.C O M
IN CONCERT PAUL MCCARTNEY’S GOT BACK TOUR • THOMPSON-BOLING ARENA • MAY 31
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HEN ONE listens to or reads interviews with rock musicians, it is not unusual for them to reference seeing The Beatles on Ed Sullivan or to hearing the first hits of the Fab Four as their inspiration to become a musician. What is unique, however, is when a musician gets to play regularly with a former Beatle. Those few musicians who have played - or are playing - with one of the four legends form a unique fraternity and are viewed as the cream of the crop. Brian Ray is one of those special few who has played guitar (lead, rhythm, and bass) for Paul McCartney since his performance at the Super Bowl half-time show in 2002. In the 20 years since, Brian has toured with Sir Paul, as well as played on many of his albums - especially the live albums. Look for Brian when Paul McCartney plays the ThompsonBoling Arena on May 31st. Brian has also worked with many other renowned artists throughout the years. His career started with a bang by playing guitar for the legendary Etta James. He’s also worked with The Reggie Knighton Band, Steve Goodman, Crystal Lewis, Rita Coolidge, Stephanie Mills, Brenda Russell, Johnny Hallyday, and many others. Equally impressive, Brian co-wrote the title song for the huge Smokey Robinson album One Heartbeat that went to number one on the Billboard R&B chart in 1987. The pandemic has sidelined many popular music acts - Paul McCartney was among them. As with most musicians in that situation, they have used the time to create new music and to spend quality time with their loved ones. Such has been the case with Brian. I connected with Brian via Zoom from his getaway home (complete with an amazing vanishing edge pool in the shape of a Les Paul guitar!) in Palm Springs, California. Why Palm Springs? “I bought a little getaway pad out here in the desert because for my whole career I’ve loved coming out to the Desert Hot Springs/ Palm Springs area to just relax after a loud
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May 2022
noisy busy tour. It’s a perfect sort of complement to that. It’s the opposite of the noise and hustle-bustle of a tour. So I’ve been coming out here a long time, finally got a little getaway pad - a small, nice little place.” Commenting about the impact of the pandemic, Brian said: “Like everyone else, I’m really tired of it. I would love to be free of this embuggerance. Also, a lot of my work when I’m not on the road is the sort of stuff that you have to do alone - like writing in my home recording studio is alone. I will be alone, writing quite a bit. Then, I’ll be alone with my engineer, recording, and he’s vaxxed and safe. Fortunately, I have a small home studio at my main house. So it has been actually, in some ways, a productive time.” Then, concluding the glimpse into his private life, Brian shared that he had begun a “really beautiful relationship,” had done a lot of songwriting, and completed a podcast series called On Tour with Brian Ray. (Definitely worth a listen in my opinion!) He went on, “I got busy doing the things that you can do alone. And, to be honest with you, I don’t mind my own company. I wasn’t one of those persons that got homicidal or suicidal - thank goodness.” Among the other things that Brian accomplished during the pandemic is a great song and a music video titled “The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde” that is built on the infamous poem written by Bonnie Parker of the actual “Bonnie and Clyde.” Brian shared the story behind the song. “Mandi Wimmer, who produced the On
Tour with Brian Ray podcast, has a really good podcast media company that she owns with her brother called Black Barrel media. One of the shows that she does, called Infamous America, is about people just like Bonnie and Clyde. When they were about to do a new season, they were starting the Bonnie and Clyde episode, which was going to be a few episodes long. They approached me about doing some music for it.” Brian discovered that Bonnie Parker’s poem, “The End of the Trail,” held a special, pleasant surprise. “We found that it was public domain... she didn’t want it owned by somebody.” After approaching his longtime friend, Australian musician Orianthi, about the idea of a guitar and vocals duet, they “cherry-picked” some ideas and edited the long poem to make it work as a song. Brian explained that they connected so well that “she was over at my house for maybe three hours, and we’re done with it.” Brian was “really proud of it” and will be using it as the B-side of his upcoming solo single put out by Wicked Cool Records, so look for it on vinyl later this year. There is much more to this interview online, where Brian talks about his early influences, his extensive guitar collection, and how fortunate he feels about a career that “never gets old!” You can watch it in its entirety - including a scoop about what’s next musically for Brian - at Boomerocity.com.
Randy’s first interview was at the tender age of 13 with none other than Col. Tom Parker. Thirty-six years later he founded the webzine, Boomerocity.com, and has conducted close to 200 interviews with some of the most interesting people in music.
